Most Recent Messages in Complications

Lead extraction follow up

I posted July 1 about my upcoming extraction and reimplantation due to a pocket infection. Thought you all might like a real world example of what that was like. I've had my pacer for exactly 11 years and have almost no complications. I'm a very fit active 53 year old male. Extraction was Friday July 16, leads were very encapsulated in the veins, Dr described it as an "arduous task", surgery took over 4 hours and "somewhat" damaged the vein. The next Tuesday a PICC line was inserted in my left a...

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posizione per dormire

amici ho il mio PM da 2 mesi, mi trovo bene e vi chiedo un consiglio....posso dormire sul lato dove si trova il PM? nel mio caso a sinistra.....non ci sono problemi?...grazie....ciao

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pain around pacemaker

I have had my pacemaker since 01/2008 in my chest and for the last 2 or 3 days now I have had a pain about 1 to 2 inches away from the scar towards the middle of my chest is where the sharp pains come and go and then at the bottom of the pacemaker about 1/2 to 1 inch towards my breast I have a pain there when I touch that area... When I touch those spots it is like I'm stabbing myself with with something....
The one spot towards the middle of my chest is the size of a nickle and under the p...

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Is this pain in my head?

Hi everyone my name is Sue. I became a member a few months ago. This is my first post, I ve been reading to see if any one has had the pain i do. I had a pm and def with three leads put in july of 2009, a month later i had to go back in to have a led attach to my heart. since then i have more pain before the sugrey. they have set the pm to different settings it doesnt get rid of the pain .i cant sleep on my left side. i wonder can a pm fall out of the pocket its like its half way under my arm....

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PVC's and PACEMAKER

hi, i joined this club because i wanted to know if there was any other people out there that is tortured by constant PVC"S after the incertion of a pacemaker. i only had 2 episodes of feeling like i was gonna pass out last december , for just a few seconds each time. my heart dr didnt try medications or anything... it was like boom he put this crap in my chest and as soon as i woke up in recovery i was having horendous PVC's. he refuses to acknowledge that the pacemaker is causing it. im mis...

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How much can you bang yourself up?

I have already made a decision regarding this but wanted to know what other people think/have done/would do.

Just over three weeks ago while riding my bike home from work (took the long way, was at mile 44) an SUV decided to try and make me and my bike a hood ornament by broadsiding me. After my short, unscheduled flight that ended up with me landing on my head (and I think handlebars of my bike due to the damage there as well) I ended up on the pavement with the following injuries:<...

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Not Right

I have had a pacemaker since April 19 of this year. At first, I felt not too bad but I gradually felt worse. I experience weakness and queeziness in my stomach. I can't do much excercise without having to go lay down. Can't play golf or walk very far and am so frustrated. I was to a pacemaker clinic at my local hospital and the doctor adjusted my pacemaker saying that there was a conflict between the two leads. I felt great for about 3 weeks and then back to feeling bad again. Can anyone please...

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High Powered Elevator!

Yikes! We just returned from an outing to the Underground Salt Mines in Hutchinson, Kansas. It was awesome, however not without a few dizzy minutes on my part.

As we entered the Visitor Center, bought our tickets and checked out the information I noticed a sign outside the "ready" room. It simply stated that if you have a pacemaker please tell the attendant. The mines are accessed through a very powerful elevator. An extremely high powered cable operates the elevator and apparently e...

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scar

hi everybody i,m new here i had my pm fitted on the 17th june 2010 haven,t started back at work properly yet as i feel very strange because i have this foriegn body in me plus i,ve noticed that the scar is very red on one side and is it normal to have like a hard lump just above the insition where the glue was . can any body help me and am now getting headaches .

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New to the club

I joined the ranks of the many people with pacemakers in 7/09. I have a-fib and tried just about every antiarrythmic without luck. Still had frequent episodes of a-fib, I was on tikosyn,metropolol and looking at putting a third medication with these when I decided to go for the ablation. The ablation went very bad , the MD hit one of the "hot spots" and my heart stopped for some unknown reason and did not restart. I no longer have any function in my lower heart and I am PM dependant. Please...

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Not Feeling Well After PM

Hey everyone, I am 36 and just had first PM. For a few years now I noticed my heart rate dropped to 40 and sometimes lower. I felt sick and had many symptoms but they came and went. I honestly thought it was just me not feeling well such as depression or something of that sort but many days and even weeks at a time I felt as healthy as ever. The last few weeks that finally convinced me to see a cardiologist, I was extremely tired, very short of breath, tingling and almost numb in my extremeties...

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rejections

My Mom just got her pm in May. Her incision still hasn't healed as if she's allergic to the metal surrounding the pacemaker. The leads don't seem to be a problem. She has been on antibiotics once, turns out she had an allergic reaction to that as well. I know people have rejected or been allergic to knee prosthesis used in replacements - any ideas for us? We're getting close to desparate.

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Can anyone offer me help and advice

Hi out there

I am 51 years old and had a dual chamber pacemaker fitted eight weeks ago. I am very nervous about posting as I don,t usually do this sort of thing. My pacemaker is fitted as an on demand basis so I usually most of the time use my own heart. However, I have been experiencing dizzy spells and feel as I am going into a faint/colapse. Afterwards I feel very unwell and light headed. Last Wednesday morning I had one of these turns and since then have felt very light head...

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anxious

on my second pacemaker ( St Judes Medical)... fitted on 31st aug 07.. after first one which was a vititron. fitted in april 01
I have sick sinus syndrome.. Every so often i experience palpitations and discomfort but then can go months even a year without feeling anything from it at all..
For the past 2 weeks i have had palpitations and every so often more powerful sensations deeper in my chest.. no pain but discomfort and anxiety.. which maybe caused by my being scared, as i have never...

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Vibrations in chest

Has anybody ever had this experience with the icd pacer.
I have a St. Judes V268 dual chamber icd.
I started feeling this vibration feeling in my arm, and under my arm to the pacer. I was sitting at a desk using a computer when I started feeling this sensation. The left arm was up on the desk when I first noticed this sensation, It felt like a cellphone was on vibrate and it was vibratining at the pacer site and radiated to my elbow. Sorta like a humming feeling and sensation. It la...

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MRI and pacemakers

Since I am needing an MRI and we are working hard to figure out a way to make that happen, I began searching for info on it. I found this article (among others) that support MRI's for people with pacemakers. Just thought you'd all be curious/interested for future reference.
Have a great day!
http://eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org/content/26/4/325.full

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Pacemaker and lead extraction

After 11 years with no real issues my pacemaker's infected and it's all gotta come out July 16th, exactly 11 years and 1 day after it went in . Dr. has me pretty afraid, says it's way more dangerous coming out than going in. Possible to perforate my heart and bleed out on the table.
Anyone else had an extraction, and how did it go? Hospital time and recover time to normal activity?
Thanks

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Pacemaker isn't doing too much

It's strange because, I know I'm only 16 but, I got the pacemaker because of my (now ex) boyfriend because he would make me so unhappy and stressed and my heart would always skip and stop whenever it would happen and it would be for at least 40 beats of it pounding hard and fast against me and then stop for a while. It's strange because it still happens, not as often, but it happens with the same amount of beats as before. It still happens because of the same guy. I don't really know if I should...

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How does alcohol effect the pacemaker?

i just had a pacemaker fitted for a slow beat four weeks ago, i am doing ok but i had a few pints yesterday and my heart raced and i had discomfort in my chest. i feel really bad today and am wondering does drink affect it? how much is safe to drink? thanks

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Mom's body keeps rejecting pacemaker

Hello to all,
I just joined a minute ago. My Mom had her first pm put in April 9. After 6 weeks, she developed a bad infection at the site and they put in a new one on the other side. A week later, one of the leads came loose. Since then, she has been re-admitted 3 times because the incision is opening and they thought is was another infection. None of her cultures showed any bactieria. I went with her today and the pm is 3/4 of the way out of the hole. She had patch tests last week to see...

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Member Quotes

I just had this miracle implanted two weeks ago and I’m feeling better.